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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 105004-105005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30726]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE540

Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources 
Fisheries Independent Research Programs

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letter of Authorization; 
request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Alabama Department of 
Conservation and Natural Resources (ALDCNR) for authorization to take 
small numbers of marine mammals incidental to fisheries independent 
research programs in Mobile Bay and adjacent waters of Alabama over the 
course of five years from the date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations 
implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is 
announcing receipt of the ALDCNR's

[[Page 105005]]

request for the development and implementation of regulations governing 
the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to 
provide information, suggestions, and comments on the ALDCNR's 
application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January 
27, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should 
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and 
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
    Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any 
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the 
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including 
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments 
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or 
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities without change. All 
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit 
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Cockrell, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the ALDCNR's 
application may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities. In case of problems accessing these 
documents, please call the contact listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) 
direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon 
request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers 
of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity 
(other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region 
if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if 
the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed 
authorization is provided to the public for review.
    An incidental take authorization shall be granted if NMFS finds 
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where 
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements 
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings 
are set forth.
    NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an 
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably 
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or 
survival.
    The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt, 
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine 
mammal.
    Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the 
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: any act of pursuit, torment, or 
annoyance, which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or 
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the 
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild 
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not 
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering (Level B harassment).

Summary of Request

    On April 12, 2024, NMFS received an application from the ALDCNR 
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to their 
fisheries independent research programs related to sampling activities 
with gillnet and trawl gear in Mobile Bay and adjacent waters of 
Alabama. Following NMFS' review of the application, ALDCNR provided 
responses to NMFS initial questions on July 11, 2024 and responses to 
follow up questions on December 10, 2024. NMFS determined the 
application was adequate and complete on December 12, 2024. The 
requested regulations would be valid for five years from the date of 
issuance. The ALDCNR plans to conduct the research in Mobile Bay and 
adjacent waters including Mississippi Sound, Perdido Bay, Wolf Bay, and 
Little Lagoon. It is possible that marine mammals may interact with 
fishing gear (e.g. gillnets and trawl gear) proposed for use in 
ALDCNR's fishery independent resulting in injury, serious injury, or 
mortality. Therefore, the ALDCNR requests authorization to incidentally 
take marine mammals.

Specified Activities

    The ALDCNR conducts fishery independent surveys throughout the 
inshore and coastal waters of Alabama, in the northern Gulf of Mexico, 
to produce scientific information necessary for the management and 
conservation of living marine resources in that area. The fisheries 
independent research programs use sampling gear including gillnets, 
seines, and otter trawls to assess marine organisms in different 
habitats and trophic levels and provides data about post-larval, 
juvenile, and adult populations of marine organisms in Alabama inshore 
and coastal waters. The collective data is used by fisheries scientists 
to monitor growth, seasonal and geographical distribution, changes in 
population structures, and correlation of abundance with some abiotic 
factors for all Alabama marine fauna. These proposed activities by 
ALDCNR would be conducted over the 5-year period of the regulations and 
subsequent LOA.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the ALDCNR's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will 
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the 
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the 
incidental taking of marine mammals by the ALDCNR, if appropriate.

    Dated: December 18, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-30726 Filed 12-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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